The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has said that it will not decide on its next course of action regarding the Members of Parliament whose seats have been deemed vacant until it has received the Supreme Court’s ruling.
Following a resolution submitted by former Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu, Speaker of the House of Representatives Alban Bagbin controversially ruled that two NPP MPs and two other members’ parliamentary seats were vacant.
The resolution stated that MPs who changed their political affiliations or ran as independent candidates should be forced to leave their seats, citing constitutional rules as support. These rules, which mandate that MPs who no longer represent the party they were elected to represent must give up their seats, are intended to preserve stability and integrity in parliamentary representation.
Members of the NPP’s Majority caucus have criticised Speaker Bagbin’s decision to declare the four seats vacant, which has triggered a contentious political debate.
They contend that by rendering such a decision without allowing for additional legal study and procedural debates, the Speaker acted prematurely and might have went too far himself.
Haruna Mohammed, the deputy general secretary for the NPP, reaffirmed that the party will not decide on the impacted MPs until the Supreme Court has rendered a decision.
“For us, we are in full support of the majority’s decision to stay out of parliament until a determination is made. But as a party, we would decide if a determination is made by the Supreme Court, then the party and National Executive Committee will take a decision on this matter.
“So until then, we will all be looking to the Supreme Court to take a decision as soon as possible so that we can bring finality to this particular matter.”
Source: Citinewsroom